--- title: Oscars 2017 Best Picture Mixup: Envelope Conspiracy Theories description: The internet has a load of wild conspiracy theories about the Oscars Best Picture mistake. canonical: https://time.com/4683716/oscars-2017-best-picture-mistake-theories/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-27T14:48:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:41:25.830Z og:title: The Funniest Conspiracy Theories About the Oscars Mix-up og:description: Leo DiCaprio is wrapped up in this somehow according to conspiracy theorists og:url: https://time.com/4683716/oscars-2017-best-picture-mistake-theories/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d6e427b62a96732/6988bc140b72e350276ecc57/oscar-misstake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: 89th Annual Academy Awards - Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Funniest Conspiracy Theories About the Oscars Mix-up twitter:description: Leo DiCaprio is wrapped up in this somehow according to conspiracy theorists twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d6e427b62a96732/6988bc140b72e350276ecc57/oscar-misstake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Absolute Funniest Conspiracy Theories About the Oscars Mix-up > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Feb 27, 2017 2:48 PM UTC  'La La Land' producer Jordan Horowitz holds up the winner card reading actual Best Picture winner 'Moonlight' with actor Warren Beatty and host Jimmy Kimmel onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2017. 'La La Land' producer Jordan Horowitz holds up the winner card reading actual Best Picture winner 'Moonlight' with actor Warren Beatty and host Jimmy Kimmel onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2017. Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Feb 27, 2017 2:48 PM UTC Millions of Academy Awards viewers got punked when Hollywood veterans [Warren Beatty](http://time.com/4683501/oscars-2017-best-picture-warren-beatty/) and Faye Dunaway declared that _La La Land_ was the [Best Picture](http://time.com/4683641/oscars-2017-best-picture-mistake-moonlight-la-la-land/) until—wait a minute—everyone learned that _Moonlight_ had actually won the honor. Before producer Fred Berger could wrap up his thank you, another producer, Jordan Horowitz, cut in with an authoritative “_Moonlight_ has won Best Picture, _Moonlight_. Best Picture.” PricewaterhouseCoopers—the accounting firm tasked with trying to pass the presenters the envelopes with the actual winners in them—took responsibility and [apologized for the mistake](http://ew.com/awards/2017/02/27/oscars-2017-accountants-apologize-best-picture-flub-moonlight/). They say they’re currently investigating how it all went down, but a simple “mix-up” is not an acceptable explanation for some. That’s because one not does mistakenly declare that _Moonlight_ lost to _La La Land_ without ridiculous suspicions of foul play. How did this happen? The internet has theories. Here are the funniest. Some users put forth the theory that [prank-happy Jimmy Kimmel](http://time.com/4473441/jimmy-kimmel-matt-damon-feud-history-timeline/) orchestrated the whole thing. > [](https://twitter.com/buy2andsave/status/836104339668127745) > [](https://twitter.com/Lana/status/836082427390898176) Remember his [Halloween candy bit](http://time.com/4508599/jimmy-kimmel-halloween-candy-prank-videos/)? He’s not above temporarily ruining everyone’s childhood annually. > [](https://twitter.com/pierce/status/836085683596906496) Jimmy Kimmel’s war with Matt Damon has raged on for years. Throughout Sunday night’s affair, the host got [plenty of jabs](http://time.com/4683230/oscars-2017-jimmy-kimmel-matt-damon-feud/) at the _We Bought a Zoo_ actor in. But Damon didn’t snap back nearly as much as he could have, which brings us to an even more sinister alternate theory. This was all about Damon’s revenge. > [](https://twitter.com/robbylattimore/status/836097673325223936) > [](https://twitter.com/cmstrickland1/status/836090555214016513) > [](https://twitter.com/MsKie215/status/836099117583593477) > [](https://twitter.com/tampajulie/status/836097014211493889) > [](https://twitter.com/gregorybrothers/status/836086911236206592) [Emma Stone told reporters](http://time.com/4683566/emma-stone-2017-oscars-best-picture/) that she was holding her card when _La La Land_ was declared the Best Picture, fueling the idea that there were duplicates. But before anyone points their fingers at Beatty, there’s another suspect in this debacle who’s had it too good for too long: Leonardo DiCaprio. > [](https://twitter.com/HeyItsMani/status/836090542052282372) > [](https://twitter.com/splatpolitics88/status/836101097798295552) > [](https://twitter.com/laura%5Fjune/status/836086336427814912) > [](https://twitter.com/pollock%5Fmitch/status/836090194025574401) > [](https://twitter.com/kyhicks2006/status/836085199494594562) Others blamed the Oscars for hopping on the latest mess-with-the-public shocking results bandwagon. > [](https://twitter.com/fmanjoo/status/836085336027455489) > [](https://twitter.com/ReneeGoldsberry/status/836094179084234755) > [](https://twitter.com/internetalena/status/836087069147451393) A certain director agreed. > [](https://twitter.com/MNightShyamalan/status/836084032798670848) Put on your tin foil hat because here’s where it gets muddy. Did “good guy” Gosling cut a deal to make the [accidental win](http://time.com/4683534/oscars-2017-la-la-land-stars-reactions/) for _La La Land_ happen? One user captured this evidence of the leading man revealing his plot to Gary from Chicago’s fiancee. > [](https://twitter.com/The%5FSummerMan/status/836087195081506818) > [](https://twitter.com/corndog%5Ferick/status/836088919351517186) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4683716/oscars-2017-best-picture-mistake-theories/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4683716/oscars-2017-best-picture-mistake-theories/"},"headline":"The Absolute Funniest Conspiracy Theories About the Oscars Mix-up","datePublished":"2017-02-27T14:48:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:25.830Z","description":"The internet has a load of wild conspiracy theories about the Oscars Best Picture mistake.","url":"https://time.com/4683716/oscars-2017-best-picture-mistake-theories/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","awards","Oscars 2017"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d6e427b62a96732/6988bc140b72e350276ecc57/oscar-misstake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d6e427b62a96732/6988bc140b72e350276ecc57/oscar-misstake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"89th Annual Academy Awards - Show","caption":"89th Annual Academy Awards - Show","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4683716/oscars-2017-best-picture-mistake-theories/","name":"The Absolute Funniest Conspiracy Theories About the Oscars Mix-up"}}]}] ```